Bay Street home targeted by arsonists for second time in five months

FALL RIVER — A vacant multi-family house on Bay Street has been torched for the second time in five months, officials said.

Just before 2 a.m. today, a witness reported seeing smoke, flames and a group of young people running from the back of the house at 1945 Bay St., Fall River Fire Lt. Neil Furtado said.

The fire was intentionally lit in the abandoned home’s basement, Furtado said.

“It’s an arson,” Furtado said. “There’s no doubt about it.”

The 104-year-old structure was also set ablaze last Christmas. In that incident, the arsonists broke into the house, which had already been vacant for several months, and set fire inside the main entrance, near a stairway, just before 1 a.m. That fire gutted the home’s first and second floors, authorities said.

On Friday, the responding firefighters extinguished heavy flames in the home’s basement. They went into the house, but the district fire chief on scene ordered the firefighters to evacuate because the house’s structural integrity had been compromised to a dangerous level.

“That house is a death trap,” Furtado said. “The floors are sagging, the roof is partially collapsed. There is fire damage all the way from the basement to the top floor. The building is a total loss.”

Fall River Building Inspector Joseph Bizko will inspect the site today. Furtado said the city’s goal is to demolish the house as soon as possible, maybe today.

“If we don’t knock it down, someone’s going to get hurt,” Furtado said.

The arsonists apparently lit several “odds and ends” that were in the basement. Furtado said fire inspectors did not detect the use of any accelerants in the arson.

At least three engines and one ladder unit responded to the scene. The last firefighters cleared the area around 5:45 a.m.

The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to call the Fall River Fire Prevention Bureau at 508-324-2740, the Fall River Police Department Major Crimes Divison at 508-324-2796, or the police department’s anonymous tips line at 508-672-Tips.